The present invention relates to a disk recording and/or reproduction apparatus for writing (recording) or reading (reproducing) the information signal using a disk-like recording medium such as a CD (compact disk) with the information signal recorded on one side thereof and a DVD (digital video disk) with the information signal recorded on the two sides thereof, or more in particular to a disk recording and/or reproduction apparatus comprising a disk stacking turntable capable of accommodating disk-like recording media (preferably, a multiplicity or 100 to 300 of them) in vertical position.
Conventionally, a disk recording and/or reproduction apparatus such as shown in FIG. 32, for example, is known in which a multiplicity of optical disks such as CDs or DVDs can be accommodated in vertical position on the turntable. FIG. 32 is a side view of a schematic configuration of a disk reproduction unit 1 in which 100 optical disks Dn (n=1 to 100) can be mounted in vertical position on the turntable 2.
This disk reproduction unit 1 includes a turntable 2 rotatably supported on a base chassis not shown. This turntable 2 has 100 disk housing units 3 capable of accommodating optical disks D in vertical position. The 100 disk housing units 3 are arranged radially at equal angular intervals along the circumferential direction. A disk drive unit not shown for performing the reproducing operation of the optical disk D is arranged on the outside of the turntable 2. This disk drive unit includes a disk table for chucking and rotationally driving the optical disk D and an optical pickup unit mounted on the disk table for reading the information signal from the optical disk D rotationally driven integrally with the disk table.
Disk conveyance means 4 for conveying the optical disk D is interposed between the turntable 2 and the disk drive unit. This disk conveyance means 4 includes a rotary arm 4a rotatably supported on the base chassis and a pair of holding members 4bmounted at the forward end of the rotary arm 4a. The rotary arm 4a is rotatable over an angle of about 90xc2x0 vertically and has a pair of holding members 4b mounted at the forward end thereof for grasping the optical disk D along the thickness thereof.
In this way, in FIG. 32, the holding member pair 4b are moved toward the optical disk D by rotating the rotary arm 4a upward in forward direction as indicated by solid line and raising it, so that a part of the optical disk D enters between the two holding members 4b. As a result, the optical disk D can be held by a pair of the holding members 4b. Then, the rotary arm 4a is rotated downward in rearward direction, so that the optical disk D held between the holding member pair 4b is removed from the disk housing unit 3 and conveyed to the disk mounting portion 5 of the disk drive unit. At this disk mounting portion 5, the optical disk D is chucked by the disk table of the disk drive unit and the chucking plate. After that, the rotary arm 4a is rotated further by a predetermined amount rearward to the position indicated by dashed line in order to avoid contact with the optical disk D.
In the conventional disk reproduction unit 1 described above, however, after the optical disk D is grasped by a pair of the holding members 4b, the rotary arm 4a is rotated and the optical disk D is conveyed between the disk housing unit 3 and the disk mounting portion 5. This configuration has the problem of increasing the height of the whole apparatus.
Specifically, the optical disk D, when removed from the disk housing unit 3 or accommodated in the disk housing unit 3, is lifted up considerably by the rotational motion of the rotary arm 4a. Also, at the reproduction position where the optical disk D is mounted on the disk mounting portion 5, the rotary arm 4a is required to be moved considerably downward to prevent a pair of the holding members 4b from interfering with the optical disk D. In consideration of these facts, the height H from the lowest end of the disk conveyance means 4 to the uppermost end of the optical disk D increases and the height of the whole apparatus is increased.
By the way, with the conventional disk recording and/or reproduction apparatus using a CD or a DVD having a diameter of 12 cm as the optical disk D, a space having a height of about 18 cm is required for conveying the optical disk D.
Further, as a conventional typical disk recording and/or reproducing apparatus capable of housing a large number of optical disks on a turntable so as to place them vertically, an apparatus shown in FIG. 33, for example, is known. FIG. 33 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a disk reproducing apparatus 1 capable of mounting 100 optical disks Dn (n=1 to 100) on a turntable 2 so as to place them vertically.
This disk reproducing apparatus 1 includes a base chassis 8 taking the plan shape of a four-sided figure. In a position somewhat biased in one sense of one diagonal direction from nearly the center of the base chassis 8, the turntable 2 taking the plan shape of a doughnut is supported so as to be freely rotatable. On this turntable 2, 100 disk housing portions are disposed at equal angle intervals in the circumferential direction. Furthermore, in one corner of the one diagonal direction of the base chassis 8, a disk drive apparatus 9 for executing a reproduction operation on an optical disk Dn is disposed.
This disk drive apparatus 9 includes a disk table 10 for chucking an optical disk Dn and driving and rotating it, and an optical pickup apparatus 6 for reading an information signal from the optical disk Dn attached to the disk table 10 and driven and rotated integrally therewith. Between the disk drive apparatus 9 and the turntable 2, a disk conveyance means 7 is provided. By operation of the disk conveyance means 7, an arbitrary one of one hundred optical disks Dn placed on the turntable 2 is selectively taken out and conveyed to the disk drive apparatus 9, or the optical disk Dn attached to the disk drive apparatus 9 is conveyed to the turntable 2 side, and housed in a predetermined disk housing portion of the turntable 2.
In the case where an optical disk, such as a DVD, capable of reproducing an information signal from both sides thereof as an information recording medium or recording ainformation signal on both sides thereof was used, however, it was impossible to automatically conduct recording and/or reproducing operation on both sides in the above describedconventional disk recording and/or reproducing apparatus 1. In the case where recording and/or reproducing operation was to be conducted on one side and subsequently on the other side, the user had to turn out the side of the optical disk Dn and attach it to the disk attachment portion again. Therefore, the essence that xe2x80x9ca disk could be exchanged without touching the diskxe2x80x9d which was required of a disk changer mechanism mounted on such a disk recording and/or reproducing apparatus 1 was hampered.
To solve such a problem, it is conceivable to provide disk drive apparatuses 9a and 9b dedicated to respective sides of the optical disk, for example, as shown in FIG. 34. The two disk drive apparatuses 9a and 9b are disposed in positions separated by a rotation angle 90xc2x0 of the turntable 2 around a rotation center thereof. Disk tables 5 of the disk drive apparatuses 9a and 9b are disposed outward so as to turn away from each other. By using such a configuration where the disk drive apparatuses 9a and 9b are dedicated to respective sides of the optical disk it is possible to conduct reproducing (or recording) on both sides of the optical disk.
When using two disk drive apparatuses 9a and 9b, however, the production cost increases because two disk drive apparatuses 9 are required. In addition, there also occurs a problem that the external dimensions of the entire apparatus become large because it is necessary to secure a space for disposing two disk drive apparatuses 9. In view of these problems with conventional apparatuses, the present invention has been made.
An object of the present invention is to solve the above described problems by making it possible to supply a disk from two opposite directions to a disk drive apparatus so as to automatically turn out the disk.
Another object of the present invention is to solve the above problems by making it possible to accommodate or remove the disk-like recording medium in and from the disk housing unit by lifting the disk-like recording medium only slightly and to convey the disk-like recording medium without the need of an apparatus with a large height.
In order to solve the above problems with conventional apparatuses and achieve the objects described above, a disk recording and/or reproduction apparatus of the present invention comprises a turntable capable of accommodating disk-like recording media in vertical direction in juxtaposition along the circumferential direction, a disk drive unit arranged in the center hole of the central portion of the turntable for mounting the disk-like recording medium to record and/or reproduce the information signal, and disk conveyance means for conveying the disk-like recording medium between the disk drive unit and the turntable, the apparatus being characterized in that the disk conveyance means includes a disk guide for lifting the disk-like recording medium from the disk housing unit of the turntable and limiting the movement thereof and a conveyance belt for conveying the disk-like recording medium to the disk mounting portion of the disk drive unit by applying the turning effort to the disk-like recording medium.
In the disk recording and/or reproduction apparatus of the present invention, the disk guide includes a vertically moving member arranged vertically movably in the center hole of the turntable and a restriction member for restricting the disk-like recording medium with the vertically moving member, the apparatus being characterized in that the conveyance belt is movably mounted on the vertically moving member.
In a disk recording and/or reproduction apparatus of the present invention, the disk drive unit includes a first support frame and a second support frame arranged in opposed relation to each other with the disk conveyance means therebetween, the apparatus being characterized in that the first support frame includes a disk table for mounting the disk-like recording medium and a pickup unit for recording and/or reproducing the information signal, and the second support frame includes a chucking plate for holding the disk-like recording medium with the disk table.
With the configuration described above, in the disk recording and/or reproduction apparatus of the present invention, the disk conveyance means includes a disk guide and a conveyance belt. Therefore, an arbitrary one of a multiplicity of the disk-like recording media arranged in vertical position along the circumferential direction on the turntable can be selectively picked up and conveyed to the disk mounting portion, or the disk-like recording medium after recording or reproduction operation can be returned from the disk mounting portion to the original disk housing unit, thus making it possible to set the whole apparatus to a low height.
In the disk recording and/or reproduction apparatus of the invention, the disk guide includes a vertically moving member and a restriction member, and the conveyance belt is mounted movably on the vertically moving member. Therefore, an arbitrary one of a multiplicity of disk-like recording media arranged in vertical position along the circumferential direction on the turntable can be selectively picked up and conveyed to the disk mounting portion, or the disk-like recording medium after recording or reproduction can be returned from the disk mounting portion to the original disk housing unit.
In the disk recording and/or reproduction apparatus of the invention, first and second support frames are arranged in opposed relation to each other with the disk conveyance means interposed therebetween, the first support frame has a disk table and a pickup unit and the second support frame includes a chucking plate. Therefore, the disk-like recording medium conveyed by the disk conveyance means can be accurately mounted on the disk mounting portion of the disk table.
These and other objects, advantages, and features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following description of the present invention.